What Asia Spends Money On

Food and fun comes first. But after that, spenders in the Asia Pacific region have different priorities for the way they spend their money.

Close behind the heels of food, consumer electronics was the second most popular spending category in Hong Kong (61%) and Taiwan (61%) and third most popular spending category in China (51%). Hong Kongers also listed travel (58%) as a top three category. But in Taiwan and China, shoppers prefer to spend on fashion and accessories (39% and 64%, respectively).

Elsewhere in Asia, children’s education ranked high: More than half of the respondents in India — 53% — said it was a top-three spending category; consumers in Indonesia (49%), Malaysia (39.8%) and Thailand (37%) also ranked their kids ’ schooling among their top three expenses.